THE 2000 CAMPAIGN: THE AD CAMPAIGN; Tobacco Ally Takes On McCain

The National Smokers Alliance, a group subsidized by the tobacco industry, has begun running a 30-second advertisement in South Carolina that sharply attacks Senator John McCain of Arizona for his sponsorship of an antismoking bill to impose fees on tobacco that would have raised the price of a pack of cigarettes by $1.10. South Carolina holds its presidential primary on Feb. 19.

PRODUCER -- National Smokers Alliance

ON THE SCREEN -- Two black-and-white photographs of Mr. McCain, smiling in one and scowling in the other, materialize as the voice-over labels him a ''typical Washington politician.'' The narrator accuses Mr. McCain of having proposed ''the largest consumer tax increase in history'' while claiming in his campaign for president that he has ''never voted for a tax increase.'' Headlines appear on the screen from articles by United Press International (''McCain vows tobacco taxes, regulation'') and The San Diego Union-Tribune (''Tobacco politics: tax and spend, not smoking, defined McCain's bill''). They are followed by an effect in which the two photographs merge into one, intended to suggest political duplicity.

SCRIPT -- Narrator: ''John McCain, presidential candidate, meet Senator John McCain, typical Washington politician. Candidate McCain states that as senator he has never voted for a tax increase. Yet in 1998, Senator McCain sponsored legislation backed by President Clinton to increase tobacco taxes. Senator McCain's bill would have imposed the largest consumer tax increase in history: $516 billion. Saying one thing and doing another. That's the real John McCain.''

ACCURACY -- Mr. McCain was in fact chief architect of legislation intended to discourage smoking among young people. In June 1998 the bill died on the Senate floor because backers could not muster the 60 votes they needed on procedural issues. In addition to the fees, the bill would have imposed monetary penalties on cigarette makers if the number of young smokers did not decline to designated levels. Mr. McCain and the White House, which supported the measure, estimated the 25-year cost of the bill at $516 billion. The senator has, indeed, asserted that he has never voted to raise taxes, and some supporters of the bill said the fees did not constitute a tax. Still, a levy imposed on a commodity like cigarettes, sometimes referred to as a ''sin tax,'' is intended less as a means of filling government coffers than as a way of enforcing a social mandate.

SCORECARD -- A classic attack advertisement tailored to the perceived economic insecurities of a tobacco state. The advertisement also tries to portray Mr. McCain as an inside-the-Beltway ally of Mr. Clinton, who is not popular in South Carolina Republican politics. The National Smokers Alliance, which is based in Alexandria, Va., and claims a membership of three million, clashed with Mr. McCain over the 1998 bill; the group, financed in part by the Philip Morris Companies and the Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corporation, ran advertisements at the time attacking Mr. McCain. He proved somewhat impervious to cries of hypocrisy on tax issues from advertisements sponsored by interest groups in New Hampshire, and whether the approach has more traction when tied to a home-grown industry like tobacco remains to be seen.